


moving through this world as a two-man team

by moonlightphan



Category: SKAM (Norway)
Genre: Eva Kviig Mohn/Noora Amalie Sætre - Freeform, M/M, Religion talk, a v small multichapter, even and isak go to weddings between 2017-2021, even is just a lovely boy, featuring a proposal!!!!, isak deals with why religion scares him so much, isak learns why marriage doesn't have to mean religion, lots of wedding talk, n lesbian weddings bc why not yall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-06
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:15:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23039929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlightphan/pseuds/moonlightphan
Summary: Even and Isak go to weddings throughout the years, and learn what they want from their possible future wedding. They learn what the concept of marriage means to them.(a wedding guest fic through the years of 2017-2021)
Relationships: Even Bech Næsheim/Isak Valtersen
Comments: 19
Kudos: 108





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi!! this is going to be about three chapters (maybe two??) and it's just a wedding guest evak fic tbh 
> 
> isak is going to learn what weddings mean to him and how he wants his to look (and if he even wants to get married at all) while even is going to find himself needing to prove that he can plan the perfect proposal.
> 
> the song in the title is james tw's you and me!
> 
> this should update everyday until it's finished, or at least every two days :)

**15th august 2017**

**•** _terje and anita_ **•**

Even is looking around the reception venue trying to find _anyone_ at all that he knows, Isak had only gone to the bathroom for five minutes so he doesn’t know how he’s meant to last the whole night. He could have sworn Jonas was meant to be coming to the reception. 

He couldn’t help but notice how cold the venue was. The walls were a blue-grey colour, the tables were covered in heather grey cloth - the only flowers they had chosen were white - the colour scheme reminded him of hospital waiting rooms. 

The wedding wasn’t too awkward. Isak stood for most of the ceremony, but Even got to sit at the front for when Isak had to sit down again. They’d arrived quite early but nobody had noticed them being here together until about an hour ago. That’s when they’d learned that nobody here knew Terje had a gay son. They knew Isak was the ‘poor kid from the last marriage’ but didn’t know _anything_ about him - it seemed to Even that Terje didn’t talk about Isak much. Luckily, he’d distracted Isak enough that he hadn’t noticed the dirty looks and snide smiles they kept receiving from his dad’s guests. 

By the time Isak made it back from the toilets, more and more people were filling the hall and taking seats. He felt Isak before he saw him, he stood behind Even’s chair, his arms snaking around Even’s shoulders and wrapping across his chest, “Hi, did you miss me?” Isak teases.

“Course,” Even smiles. 

“I wanna go home.”

“Think you’ll need to last at least an hour, being the best man and all.”

Isak shakes his head, “You don’t get it. Dad just told me that you can’t sit at that stupid table with me.”

Even paused, not knowing how to navigate this, he’d made it his mission for Isak to feel okay on today of all days, “The head table, you mean? Are they not letting the maid of honour have her husband, either?”

“Yep. Dad said it was married plus-ones only at the head table, so I don’t see why I have to be on there at all. I’m not making a speech, I don’t get why I have to sit there. I wish we never came.”

“Baby,” Even spins around to face Isak, “I’ll be right here, you can look at me the whole time. You don’t need to sit there until all the speeches start anyway, and at the end of the speeches, you can come sit with me.”

Isak frowns, “You don’t know anyone here, though. I barely do!”

“It’s fine. We’ll stay a couple of hours and then say we need to get back, okay? It’ll be okay. You’ll be sat over there for an hour, tops. There’s no sit down meal, you just need to be over there until the speeches are done,” Even persuades. 

“Fine.”

.

The speeches are _agonisingly_ long. Terje’s brother did a speech instead of Isak - originally, it was supposed to be Isak’s grandad, but he ended up not being able to come. It’s very thrown together and about nothing in particular, but that doesn’t stop it being fifteen minutes long. Terje’s speech lasts ten minutes, where he just says a thank you to everyone for coming ( _to Even, it seems strange not to direct your wedding speech to your new wife, but that’s not his business - side note: you also could direct something to your son, maybe?_ ) Maybe Even’s biased. They had the maid of honour and the father of the bride also make speeches - both of which are extremely long and not sappy. Just as cold as the grey walls and grey tables, the grey floor and the grey grey grey everything. 

Luckily, Even manages to drag Isak to the dance floor for one song before they go. It’s a dumb song from probably 1953 but he makes the most of it - the only time Isak’s ever danced with him was in their living room with music playing from Spotify, with just their fridge’s light casting over them. Even really prefers those dances, yet he still holds Isak close to try and make him forget this whole day. 

“Isak!” Terje calls over to him, so Isak lifts his head from Even’s chest just as the song ends. 

Even sighs internally, hoping that he wouldn’t keep them too long. They’d last two hours, that _must_ be enough for the day.

“I just wanted to say thank you for today.”

“Oh,” Isak says, “It’s alright, it was a great day.”

Terjei chuckles, “I know it wasn't your first choice. And I’m sorry Even couldn’t sit with us.” 

Isak shrugs him off, not knowing how to answer that without some form of argument.

“How’s your mama doing?”

Terje had stopped contact with Marianne after getting engaged. After she became stable, they just went in separate directions, which was probably lucky for Isak - he much preferred family time now that his dad wasn’t involved. 

Isak nods, “Really good. We went over at the weekend, didn’t we?”

“Yeah, yeah, we did,” Even agrees, “We made some dinner together. She’s actually joining my mums’ and us on Friday.”

Terjei pricks his head up, “Oh,” he comments, “That’s nice. I didn’t know you were all connected yet. I didn’t realise you’d gotten to that point yet.”

“We live together, Papa. It’s at that level.”

“Yes, yes, of course. I just thought you and Mama weren’t completely- I mean, I thought it might cause stress...”

Even rubs Isak’s back to try and stop him from yelling, “Mama and me are great. Besides, she loves Even’s parents, there's no stress.” 

Terjei looks surprised, and Isak clears his throat as Even says, “We actually should be going now - my mum’s been locked out so…” he trails off. 

“Oh, okay, no problem. Thank you both for coming, so much, it means the world to Anita and I,” he hugs Isak, and Even doesn’t miss the way his boyfriend flinches, “We should meet up soon for a coffee, maybe, Isak?”

Isak nods as he lifts his hand in a small wave as he walks with Even out the venue, thankful for his boyfriend's arm around his waist.. 

. 

When they got back to the apartment, it was dark. Even had driven them to the wedding that morning - it was only a half an hour drive and he knew he wouldn’t be drinking so it was the easiest option to just borrow his mum’s car. 

It had become a habit of Isak’s when he was exhausted to lay on the floor as soon as he walks through the door. It didn’t happen too often - it was typically when he had been somewhere with Even and it was mentally draining or even when they were both drunk. And every single time Isak was forced to wear a suit.

That’s how they found themselves laying on the floor, both in their suits, and both mentally exhausted from the glares of Terje’s wedding guests. 

“Do you think we’ll get married?” Even asks.

Isak scoffs, “You thought we were going to be married before we were even _properly_ together and _now_ you ask me _if_ we’ll end up married?”

“Shut up, you.”

“I think we will,” Isak whispers into the dimmed light coming in from the window. 

Even turns his head to face his boyfriend from the floor, “Can you promise me something?”

Isak murmurs.

“Promise me you won’t propose.”

A moment passes, and Isak’s interpreting the words in a million different ways. 

“I really want to propose to you. Promise me?” Even interjects.

“I promise,” Isak swears, holding his pinky out to him. 

Even smiles, taking the pinky in his own, and he presses a kiss to them, “I want to make it perfect for you. Plan it all out, you know?” 

Isak is silent, knowing it’s a time when Even wants to voice his thoughts.

“I know I can’t plan much because of how impulsive I am and it can trigger me, but proposing to you. I need to do that. You’re always looking after me-”

“ _Hey_ , we look after each other,” Isak interrupts. 

“Yeah, we do, but _you_ asked me to move in, _you_ plan everything for us. Like the Morocco trip, and the cabin weekends are always you planning them, or the boys. And Eva that time we went on that big cabin trip.”

Isak shuffles over to Even, and lays against his boyfriend’s arm until he’ll wrap it around him. 

“Plus, I’ll have to force myself to do it when I’m properly able to, you know? Not like when I was manic in the hotel. I need it to be perfect for you, and that means doing it when I know I'm at my best.”

“I know that,” Isak says, “Don’t stress about it, though. You could ask me by writing it on a napkin and I’d still say yes.”

  
  
  
  


**20th april 2019**

_**•** julie and simen_ **•**

“Do we _really_ have to go?” Isak whines from the bed. Even was already up, and his suit was hooked over the door ready for him to put on, while Isak laid in the bed, wriggling in the sheets and groaning whenever he couldn’t see Even anymore. 

Even chuckles, “It’s only the ceremony we have to go to. I made an excuse to get out the reception.”

“But I hate church.”

He sits on the edge of the bed, combing through Isak’s hair with his fingers, “I know you do, baby. It’s just an hour, okay? He’s my cousin, I can’t get out of it. You don’t have to come, if you really don’t want - I can just say you’re sick.

“No, if you go, I go.”

Even places a kiss on Isak’s nose, “Okay, we'll go for the ceremony and then we’ll come home and I’ll take you out. How’s that sound?”

“Out where?”

“ _Wherever_ you want, you can choose,” Even offered. 

“On a date?”

He smirks, “A date it is.”

“Okay, deal.”

.

It was a typical church wedding. Until-death-do-us-part vows, a bishop marrying the happy straight couple, with no character into who they were as a couple. A generic wedding both Isak and Even knew from childhood. Even down the the white and pink roses decorating the church, and the hymn that was sung as the paperwork was signed. 

It only lasted an hour, though, so they were home again by 1pm. 

They walked home hand in hand - it was only ten minutes from their apartment. 

“I don’t want to marry you in a church,” Even tells him. 

“Good.”

“I’m glad weddings aren’t all about religion anymore,” Even begins, “I know they’re rooted in religion but it means something different than God now.”

“I’ve never been to a gay wedding, what would that even look like?”

Even swung their hands as they walked, “I was thirteen when my mums got married. I remember them telling me it was fun to plan because they just did everything themselves, they didn’t have to follow any of the traditions because it was between two girls so tradition was already out the window.”

Isak laughed, “Do they still have their photos?”

“Course. I’ll get them to show you when we go over tomorrow.”

“Do you think my mum would be upset if I didn’t want a whole religious thing?”

“I don’t think so. She loves you more than anything, babe. You should remember that more,” Even explains, “We could show her the photos of my mum’s wedding once we’re engaged and then we can tell her how it’ll all work. Chances are she’s like you and has no clue how a gay wedding would look.”

“I really hate the term gay wedding.”

“I hate a lot of things.”

  
  
  
  


**16th june 2020**

_**•** beth and lillian_ **•**

Looking around the venue for this wedding is something that fills Isak with a feeling he hadn’t felt before. It was strange. He’d been to a few weddings before, but he always felt out of place, whether he was close to the couple or not. He knew both Beth and Lillian well. Back when he and Even lived in Trondheim, Lillian worked with him on his shifts at the cafe, and both couples used to go on double dates when they still lived there.

They were only a couple of years older than Even. Maybe Isak felt like this because was because this was the youngest couple he knew getting married. 

They were having a summer wedding in a hotel - the place was filled to the brim with every colour flower they could possibly find. They’d mentioned to Even months ago that they’d asked the florists for the decorative flowers in the hotel to resemble the rainbow as much as possible, and their bouquets for the aisle was themed around a light pink rose. He didn’t know all the types of flowers in the hotel but it was bright and delicate. 

He and Even had already sat down, they both were quite excited to see this wedding, which was a first for them since they got together at least. 

“You okay? You seem quiet,” Even comments. 

Isak nods, still looking around, “I’m good, it’s just really nice here.”

“You like it?”

Isak stays silent, not knowing what to say. 

“Weddings can be nice, hm?”

“This one seems different to the others I’ve been to.”

Even holds Isak’s hand, “You’ve never been to a queer wedding before, though. Maybe this is just how weddings feel when you can see yourself in what’s happening.”

“Maybe.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isak learns how he can fit into a wedding, and learns how a wedding can feel when he feels represented within one. Even starts to really plan his proposal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello again!!! this fic will definitely have three chapters. here's part two :)
> 
> a note: i reference something called blu-tack in this fic and idk if they have that in every country? it's just something that is used to put things like paper or photographs to walls, and it's almost got the consistency of putty but its basically a adhesive to put things up on walls.

The ceremony was beautiful. So were Beth and Lillian. Beth wore a lace jumpsuit that looked just like a traditional dress when she stood with her legs together, and Lillian wore something that Isak would describe as something from a traditional fairytale. They wrote their own vows - so instead of thanking God for their love and saying they’d only part once death looked them in the eye, they spoke about how Lillian looked with cereal in the corners of her mouth, and how Beth read her poetry on their first date. 

They’d hung onto some traditions, but made them their own. They had a best man and a best woman, and a bunch of “ _brides-people_ ” instead of bridesmaids or groomsmen. They both walked down the aisle with their mothers to give them away. They were happy. 

While photographs were being taken, Isak and Even stood by the stream just outside the hotel. Even straightens Isak’s burgundy tie and kisses his temple.

"You look pretty," he comments.

"Pretty?" Isak scoffs, "Not hot? Or rugged and handsome?" Isak supplies.

"How about all of the above?" Even teases, “I need to call my mum quickly, you going to be okay on your own for a sec?”

The sides of Isak’s mouth upturn, “I’ll be good here. Why do you need to call her?”

“She was cleaning out the attic today and she texted earlier saying to call when I had a minute. I think it’s just some of my old stuff she wants rid of, I’ll be two minutes,” he explains, and Isak knew something wasn’t right but he didn’t bother to question it further. 

Even pecks Isak’s cheek before he walks quickly inside the hotel, and heads for the main lobby, where he knows Isak won’t follow him. He checks with an employee if it’s okay for him to stand in the garden for a phone call and at the nod of the employee, he sits at the bench and rings his mum. 

“Hi, baby!” Liv answers, “Wedding over already? I thought you were staying for the reception as well.”

“We are, I needed to talk to you quick. Mama around, too?”

He hears a muffled voice that belonged to his Mama, and the sound echoes now, so he suspects he's on speaker, “Both here and ready, what’s going on?”

“I want to propose to Isak.”

“Oh _shit_!” Sofie exclaims, “I’m so excited.”

"This is so great, baby!" Liv exclaims, already picking out tie patterns and flowers in her mind, "Isak'll be made up, oh and Marianne -bless her," she clears her throat, and then asks “How long have you wanted to do this?” 

Even lets out a breath, filled with relief than neither of them called him crazy, “I have for a long time but I seriously considered if for the last few months. But this wedding is the first one Isak has looked happy at, and I can see him being excited about a wedding now. What do you think? Is this okay?”

“ _Course_ it is, love. I think if I met your Mama when I was 19 like you did with Isak, I don’t think I would have lasted as long as you have without asking her,” Liv assures him.

“When you know, you know,” Sofie says, “And you and Isak, this isn’t how every relationship is when you’re young. It’s _special_ and you both know that, and you both treat it like that.”

"Do you think Marianne would be okay with it? I'm going to ask her permission but do you think-"

He hears Sofie fondly laugh down the phone, "Marianne will be so so _so_ happy, sweetheart. I promise."

.

When they get back to Oslo, the first thing on Even’s to-do list is to meet up with Marianne. He decided to do it by showing up at her apartment, to avoid Isak cottoning on to anything. 

As soon as he makes it to her door, he’s filled with nerves. His mind was spiralling with all of those texts Marianne used to send Isak and the cross around her neck spiralling in his mind - he tried to get _that_ Marianne out his head and think of the one he _knew_. 

Marianne opens the door a second later, “Oh, hello sweetheart,” Marianne answers, and her voice is soft and reassuring, “This is a lovely surprise! You alright?”

He clears his throat, “Uh, yeah, yes. I’m, uh I’m fine.”

“You sure? You look a bit nervous. How was the wedding?” She steps aside to let him in, leading him over to the sofa, “You want a drink?

“No, no, I’m okay, thanks. I needed to talk to you, sorry for just dropping in like this. Listen, I um. I really want to ask Isak to marry me,” Even barely takes a breath, “And I wanted to ask you how you felt about that, and if I could have your permission to do that. I know he’s still so young and we both are, but he’s just all I’ll ever want,” He speaks so quickly that he barely even knows if she got a word of it or not.

Marianne is quiet for what feels like ten hours, but is probably only a few seconds, until she finally tells Even what he wanted, “Of course you can, my love. You’ll look after him, and I could ask for nobody better for my baby than you. You never needed to ask my permission, but thank you.”

“Of course, he’s your little boy,” he says.

“I wasn’t the best parent for a while. I’m so happy to be close to him again, and you played a massive role in that - honestly, Even, thank you for bringing my little boy back to me. Thank you for loving him,” she thanks him, and he can see tears in her eyes. 

He wraps his arms around her, and lets relief pour out of him. 

.

"While I am here, though, I had a chat with Isak a while ago - maybe a year ago or something - about how you'd feel about a wedding being between two boys. He seemed a bit anxious that it might be against your beliefs," Even brought up. By now, he'd taken Marianne up on her drink and was carefully sipping a fresh cup of tea, wary of the heat of it. 

She shakes her head, "I believe that my God loves us all, whether we believe in him or not. And I believe that he put us on his Earth to love each other, and that's exactly what you and Isak are doing. I would never believe in a God that was against something as pure as your love," she explains, "I don't know if it makes me a more laid back Christian, but the second my son was born, he comes before everything else. Before my religion, my God, my marriage, everything. My children mean more to me than my God." 

Even is quiet for a minute, knowing how much Isak needed to hear these words.

"I don't mind how this wedding works. I've never been to a wedding with a same-sex couple before, however I want to _learn_ and be the best mother and mother-in-law that I can be."

"You already are."

"I can see how Isak gets so flustered, you know, you're a real charmer," she jokes.

"Well I was raised right, what can I say?"

"You really were, love."

Even leans forward to put his cup of tea on the coffee table and pulls out his phone, "I hope it's okay, but I spoke to my parents about you not really knowing much about queer weddings. And they thought it might help you to see how _their_ wedding looked. I have some photos on my phone to show you, if you want to see?"

She smiles wildly, "Of _course_ , I love weddings, let me just grab my glasses," she scurries over to the kitchen counter before sitting next to him again.

He shows her a number of photos from the ceremony - the ones of his mothers in their dresses in their rooms beforehand, too. 

The ones of the cutting of the cake, the two-bride cake topper. 

The hundreds of flowers. 

Even in his suit with a bright yellow bow-tie. 

His favourite from outside the venue, where his mothers were sat by a tree and they smiled for the camera, confetti still stuck in their hair. 

"They're beautiful," Marianne comments.

"Mm, they are," Even agrees, "I just don't want you to be disconnected from the planning and things like that because you're not familiar. Isak _adores_ you, and if he agrees to marry me-"

"When," She corrects.

"- _w_ _hen_ he agrees to marry me," he emphasises, "He'll want you helping to plan everything, just like my mamas will be."

She kisses his hand, and strokes the back of it, "Try to keep me away."

He nods, "Good."

"When do you think you'll propose then?"

"God, I still need to think of how I will..."

.

The next thing on his to-do list was to ask Eskild. He had to arrange it with Eskild because every spare minute he had, he had some form of plan to do something. Luckily, he managed to get Eskild to meet him at KB an hour after he left Marianne’s. 

He ordered Eskild’s coffee for him while he was waiting, and twiddled his thumbs. 

“ _Hello_ baby giraffe, how are things?”

Even smiles, nodding his head, “Good, good, yeah. You? How’s things?”

“Weird vibe you’re letting out there, what’s going on?”

“Alright, I want to ask your permission to propose to Isak.”

Eskild almost drops his mug, “No way!” he screams, “Oh my _God_!” He rushes to hug Even, “Of course you can, silly, you don’t need to ask.”

“I know how much you mean to Isak, you mean as much as Marianne does.”

“How are you going to do it?”

He shrugs, “I really don’t know yet. I might do it at home, and fill the place with candles and surprise him or something?”

“You’ve got time, but that sounds cool. Make it really you, though. Don’t just follow something you find in one of your movies or online - you could include something from that dumb wall of your memes and cartoons,” he says.

“That’s an idea.”

  
  
  
  


**31st august 2020**

_**•** sonja and tommy_ **•**

“Was it weird for us to go to that wedding?”

“What - the wedding of your ex-girlfriend, the partner that you cheated on with me? Perhaps,” Isak remarks.

Even scoffs, messing up Isak’s hair as he finally gets into bed after the long day, "You sure have a way to find every situation sound ridiculous." 

Sonja had met Tommy when she was on holiday in London - Even seemed to remember it was around 2017, but Isak could have sworn it was only last year. They were long-distance for a while after she went back to Oslo, but now they were happy and living in York together. Isak and Even only went to the reception; they were invited to the ceremony but it felt too weird. Even couldn't imagine saying his vows and looking over to see Sonja sitting there. 

The wedding was in York as well, so luckily that meant they both got to have a little trip to England. They managed to get the week off and went sightseeing all week long. 

Isak joined him in bed, and leaned his head against his boyfriend’s shoulder, switching off the lamp in their hotel room. 

“You know, I used to really hate the whole concept of marriage,” Isak tells him, “It seemed really dumb.”

“Yeah?”

Isak hums against Even’s shoulder, and he feels Even’s hand beginning to play with his hair - it was probably getting greasy by now and it was curlier than usual, but he knew Even wouldn’t care, “I think I just thought married people ended up breaking up if they were going to break up, the legal part doesn’t make any difference.”

“Marriage is more than just paperwork, babe.”

“I know that now, I think going to these weddings with you helped. And your parents, too.”

Even smirked, “And I guess, you being obsessed with me helps.”

“Shut up, you.”

. 

Even had been planning his proposal for months now. He’d decided to take Eskild’s advice and incorporate the drawings that Isak loved so much when they first got together into his proposal. He also thought he should include Isak’s favourite place to be - home. So he was going to draw out all the big moments of their relationship, and place them along the walls in the hallway to lead Isak into the main room where he’d make Isak’s favourite meal, and fill the room with candles. Isak had been really into the episode of Friends where Chandler and Monica got engaged with all the candles, so he definitely wanted to have that for him too. 

Isak was out all day today. He had class in the morning, and then he was meeting Jonas for a few hours before his shift at work that didn’t end until about 4:30. He’d managed to completely finish the drawings last night, so all he had to do was cook the meal, get all the candles ready and set up the drawings - so he needed to go shopping to find all the candles and blu-tack to get the drawings on the wall. 

He rang his mum from the store, to let her know his plan for the day, and he decided on getting Isak’s favourite vanilla candles instead of the more scented ones in case it was too strong a smell for the meal later on. While he was there, he picked up the ingredients for the food, and some of Isak’s favourite chocolate. 

.

It was 3pm, he had all the food out on the counter and was almost ready to start cooking it so it would be ready for about 5:30, so he’d have time to do the proposal just before it was ready. All the drawings were up in the hallway, and he had nothing to distract him anymore, _therefore_ he was getting more and more anxious. 

Isak was the best thing in his life, and he knew deep down that Isak wanted to marry him. He knew that. But that didn’t stop him overthinking every detail. He needed this to be good enough for him. He loved him so much. 

The ring was already out, and put in his hoodie pocket. He’d gone ring shopping with Eskild - his first idea was to take Jonas, though after thinking about it more, he figured Eskild might be the better choice for ring shopping. They’d decided when they got there that it was stupid that only one person got to wear an engagement ring if both of you were engaged, so that was the first social norm to be thrown out, and they’d found two rings that went together. 

Even had set up most of the candles already, he had lit about half of them - he wanted to wait until about half an hour before Isak got home to light the rest just so it doesn’t get too stuffy in their little apartment. 

The problem he was facing the most in this current moment was his heartbeat seeming to speed up whenever he thought about what would happen that day.

He figures that cooking will calm him down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope u enjoyed!! a proposal Is Coming :) pls leave a comment and kudos if you'd like and i'll reply to all the comments,,,, look out for the final chapter in a day or two xo
> 
> find me on twitter @ minuttforhowell


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even proposes. They go to their last wedding as non-married wedding guests.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LAST CHAPTER!! 
> 
> i thought rly hard about how i thought even would propose bc i'm one of the ppl that always thought isak would propose, but for this fic it made sense to have even do it. the ring thing is bc i am genuinely against only one member of a couple wearing an engagement ring like if yall are having one person engaged it may as well be both of u...... idk 
> 
> hope u like it!

Even is about ten minutes into chopping vegetables when he hears the door open and his blood runs cold.

“I’m home!” He hears Isak call down the hallway, “Baby? What’s all this?”

Even panics, trying to think of anything to say, and he finally sees Isak walk into the room. It’s then that all his expectations don’t seem too dire anymore. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t dark in here so the candles didn’t give _that_ atmosphere. It didn’t matter that only half of the candles were lit. It didn’t matter that he hadn’t even put anything in the oven yet. It didn’t _matter_.

“Just, uh, go back to the door and look at each drawing,” he instructs, “I promise, it’s just a surprise.” 

His voice wavers slightly, and his mouth is dry, but he sees Isak drop his bag to the sofa and turn back around to the door. 

.

Isak starts by the door. He notices a timeline along the wall, a thick black line has been put up, and every few inches there's a drawing connected to it.

The first drawing is marked with AUGUST 2016. Isak is on the phone, surrounded by those jagged angry lines you see in cartoons. Even is in the corner, watching him with a smile on his face. 

Isak steps forward. 

The next drawing is OCTOBER 2016. Isak is sat with Mahdi, Jonas and Magnus. He watches Even, and Even looks back at him. 

Isak follows along to the next drawing. Even stands with Sana, Eva, and Vilde. Isak is sitting alone. Underneath that drawing, there’s another - Isak and Even stand in the bathroom at Nissen, and Even holds tissue in his hands. There’s another drawing where they’re sitting on a bench outside.

Isak continues. 

The next drawing is the first in colour. It’s coloured in blue, and Isak and Even kiss in a pool. 

He smiles to himself, fondness beginning to seep out of him. He notices a piece of string attached to that drawing, with a piece of folded up paper stuck to it, so he unfolds. Even has drawn a big spiral in a red pen in the centre of it, and along the edges are speech bubbles, and a big rectangle at the bottom. 

_ “Du er mannen i mitt lif” _

_ "How many Isak's and Even's do you think are lying like this right now?" _

_ “Infinite” _

The rectangle reads “ _a while later_ ”

The next drawing is labelled DECEMBER 2016, it’s of them in bed, Even’s hair is flat, and Isak doesn’t have any quilt over him. The speech bubble reads “MINUTT FOR MINUTT”.

“Ev?” Isak calls, tears in his eyes.

“Keep going.”

The next drawing is them laying in bed in their first apartment, labelled with APRIL 2017. 

MAY 2017 just has a speech bubble with nothing inside. Isak remembers how hard it was for Even to tell him about his past. 

The next is an airplane, leading to Trondheim. 

There’s the new apartment, new jobs, new universities. 

The Morocco trip. 

Until Isak stands in front of a black piece of paper, which he turns over to see a cartoon image of Even drawn in white ink, he’s on one knee, and holding a ring box.

He finally makes it into the main room of their apartment, and Even had managed to light the rest of the candles, he’s stood by the sofa and he’s holding his hand out to Isak to beckon him. 

“Come here,” he whispers and he sits Isak down on the sofa, and then kneels down next to him. 

“I love you,” Isak smiles.

Even laughs fondly, “Shh, you. Let me do it,” he lets out a breath before trying to remember what he had planned for himself to say, but draws a blank. 

He brushes away a tear underneath Isak’s eye that was threatening to escape.

“Okay. Okay, Isak, you- I can do this, I can,” he mutters to himself. 

Isak cups his face, and so softly says, “Hi,” and he’s so beautiful. Even looks up at him and he’s reminded that this is Isak. This is his Isak, and he’s waiting for him. The Isak he’s been with for so long. And he says it.

“You wrote in a text to Sana when we were in school that I was the best thing in your life,” Even recalls, “You showed it to me when I couldn’t see that I was good enough for you. And sometimes when I’m stressed, I think about that. You’re absolutely the best thing that I’ve ever, ever had, like, you’re my person, you’re mine, you know? And I get to just see you everyday and wake up with you and hear you yell at Fifa everyday.”

Isak chuckles, and strokes the hairs at the nape of Even’s neck. And it’s enough to ground Even to go on. He wrote an entire speech for this exact moment, and he can’t remember a single word of it. And he doesn’t care. This proposal was meant to be different, sure, but it’s still this. It’s still him sitting there in front of Isak, and asking him to marry him. It doesn’t matter how or when or where, it’s just this moment. 

“I am so fucking lucky to get to love you, and you are the easiest person to love. You, right here, in front of me, you are the best person in the entire world. Just exactly _this_ you. You, who sleeps in every single second he can. You, who’s still scared of horror films but watches them just because everyone else loves them. You, who’s the most gentle, soft, beautiful, hot, and just the best boyfriend that anyone could ever have,” Even pauses for a second, and pulls out the ring box, holding it in front of him, “I don’t know what I did to deserve to be loved by you but here we are and I love you. I love you so much I don’t know what to do with it.”

He hears Isak breathing, and smiling, and crying. 

He opens the ring box, and he hears a little gasp from Isak, but he carries on, “You have gone through so much and I’ve never had a day that I haven’t been proud of you, and proud to be _your_ boyfriend. I am so lucky to be yours, and I want to always be yours. Isak Valtersen, the absolute love of my life, will you _please_ marry me?”

For a moment, he can’t ever hear anything, but he can see Isak nodding vigorously and he feels Isak lunge at him. That’s when he can hear him too. 

“Yes, yes, yes, yes!” He squeals into Even, quickly pulling himself up to kiss him. Anyone would see the kiss and think it’s sloppy and wet and gross, but it’s perfect. 

They pull back and Even pulls Isak’s hand over to the ringbox, and gets out the ring, “I hope it fits.”

The ring is a thin rose-gold band with a small circular stone - Isak couldn’t tell what kind of stone it was, but when it caught the light of the candles, it was a green colour, but on first look, it appears silver and bright.

Even slides it onto Isak’s finger, and Isak smiles bigger than he thought he ever had done before, “It’s perfect, it’s so pretty, babe.”

Isak looks back up to him, and cups his cheek, repeated kissing every inch of Even’s face he could reach. 

“I love you.”

. 

In bed that night, Isak nudged Even just when he was about to sleep, “Baby.”

“Hm?”

“Can I tell you a secret?”

Even’s eyes twinkle with intrigue, “Mm.”

“Wait here,” with that, Isak jumps from the bed and opens the doors of their wardrobe, pulling out a wooden box from it, and gives it to Even. He inspects it, and seems to be lost, as Isak gets out a key from his bedside table and opens it. 

Inside it is a small velvet box.

“I bought this when I was about to turn nineteen. You’d just gotten into your last year at university and you had your first day volunteering at that high school job. I saved up for months, and it’s not the best ring in the world but-”

“You’ve hidden a ring in a wooden box without me even knowing about it for over two years?”

Isak nods, “I mean, yeah. I didn’t know when I wanted to propose, but I knew I wanted you to be my husband one day so I saved up. I went ring shopping on my own and I didn’t even ask your parents, I figured once I planned it out, I would, but then we started going to weddings together and you told me not to propose to you.”

“Can I see it?”

Isak slowly opens up the box. It was a strange box for an engagement ring - it was the kind where the ring was placed vertically rather than horizontally. The ring had a silver band, with six tiny stones in a line with space between each of them - each stone had a different colour resembling a rainbow.

“It doesn’t look much like an engagement ring, and we don’t need to use it if you don’t want, I just wanted to show you.”

“It’s perfect, _you’re_ perfect,” Even reassures, kissing his forehead, “Put it on me, then.”

“I had a whole speech, you know?”

Isak smirks as he takes the ring, and slides it over Even’s finger.

“Well you’ll have to tell me one day,” Even says, “While we’re confessing, though, I did buy a matching engagement ring to the one I gave you. I thought it was dumb that only one person got to wear the ring. It’s a little different to yours, but not very different, the band is a bit thicker and the stone is smaller and part of the band. Like the one you gave me but just with one stone.”

“We have three engagement rings?”

Even chuckles, “Looks like it, Is.”

“Well, you’ll have to wear two then.”

  
  
  
  


**4th march 2021**

_**•** noora and eva_ **•**

“I promise to not make fun of you when you cry at _Titanic_ , even if you’ve seen it a thousand times.”

“I promise to sing to you when you can’t sleep.”

“I promise to cook every once in a while.”

“I promise to never get bored of putting make-up on you in the middle of the night.”

This was the first wedding Even had been to where the couple have chosen to write their own vows, and _completely_ made them up on the spot. Isak told him that morning about it - apparently it was Eva’s idea - where they would start the vows and just say promise after promise instead of the traditional vows that are general. 

Isak mentioned that it made sense to him. Vows are meant for the dumb promises (in his own words) that are a given in a committed relationship anyway.

Don’t cheat.

Stay with them.

Look after them.

Love them.

But this way it was personal and unplanned and spontaneous, which did fit Noora and Eva to a tee. 

“I promise to let you fall asleep in the car, even when I’ve driven for hours.”

“I promise to never let you forget how loved you are.”

“I promise to call you beautiful and smart and funny, every single day.”

.

They both looked _beautiful_. Eva had worn a floor-length dress with a train, the colour of it was almost pink but not quite - and the dress had lace sleeves and a sparkled top, while the bottom was layered into floor-length, while Noora wore a fairy-style dress - the whole thing was made from lace and she had flowers sewn into the skirt of it. The whole thing had been intimate - Eskild had officiated it, with all their friends being groomsmen and bridesmaid, while Isak was Eva’s best man. 

Even and Isak followed everyone outside and they gripped boxes of confetti, ready to throw it on the newlyweds. 

Just before they did, Even gripped Isak’s waist and whispered into his ear, “The next wedding you’ll be at is ours,” he leaves a soft kiss on his cheek.

Isak turns in his arms and smiles, “I can’t wait.”

  
  
  
  


**EVEN BECH NÆSHEIM &**

**ISAK VALTERSEN**

**request the pleasure of your company**

**at their wedding**

**22丨** **MARCH 丨 2021**

**at twelve o’clock in the afternoon,**

**Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel**

**_fin._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you liked this! about the hotel, i don't think if i ever wrote even and isak getting married, it would be at That Hotel bc i like to think it would be in a new place but i am a dumb british girl so idk any norwegian hotels that are Good for weddings so that's why i chose that hotel for the invitation. 
> 
> anyways, leave kudos and a comment if you'd like, and i'll reply to everything :) find me on twitter @ minuttforhowell

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you liked this! pls feel free to leave a comment and kudos if you'd like, and i'll answer every comment :) 
> 
> find me on twitter @ minuttforhowell xoxo
> 
> (i'll update in a day or so!)


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